My name is Don, and I'm a Table Tennis newbie in Central Florida (USA).

Most of the Blogs here are by seasoned veterans trying to perfect the nuances of their technique, or by gifted young people making the kind of rapid progress that's hard to believe. But not this one. This is the story of a 48-year-old out-of-shape schlub who has somehow become addicted to this glorious game. So if you need the simple confidence boost of knowing that someone, somewhere has less talent for this game than you, then this may be your blog

My story:Almost 2 years ago my company bought a ping pong table, and a few of us started knocking the ball around at lunch. It was great fun, though I was outclassed by my more athletic coworkers. So in April 2017 I visited the local Table Tennis club to pick up a few tips. I had no idea of the world I was entering, or of the obsession that would soon take hold...

Here's a summary of my first year+ in under 4 minutes:

This seems as good a place as any to organize my video analysis and thoughts about what to do next to improve. To anyone that has made it this far, your tips and suggestions are most welcome, I need all the help I can get!

Your nemesis at work is not beating you on athleticism alone. He has clearly played some proper table tennis at some point in life.

It may be your grip or your stance preventing you from hitting the forehand in matches. Whatever it is you certainly aren't using your practice stroke. That's a very common mistake is learning adults like us. In kids, not so much.

Are you playing Lakeland this Saturday? Would be fun to see you there. I am playing on the table behind you in your clip from Orlando last November at the Florida closed, but pretty sure we haven't met.

_________________Table tennis, as we find it, is far too hard for us. It brings too much pain, too many disappointments, impossible tasks.

Great video. Some big improvements there. The only way you will get comfortable is to play the forehand in matches is if you play it in match situations.

Maybe do some drills with someone where you are only allowed to hit to the opponents forehand side of the table. Score like in a match but you only get a point if your last shot was a forehand. Make it an obvious exercise, don't just 'try' to hit more forehands, structure the match that you have to.

I love watching beginner adults improving, they are the best videos if you ask me. We all know the kids do it.

What sort of robot do you have, looks like the Joola Master V300 (like mine) at the start but at the end it looks like its quite complex by firstly serving then doing topspin?

'For the love of God would you hit a freaking FH' - that sure cracked me up Seriously a very good video and presentation which reflects your commitment and dedication to improve whilst enjoying this lovely sport. Well done so far and good luck with further improvement and use of your FH. You are nearly there.

Can you use your forehand against a human player during warmup? What about practice matches (outside tournaments)? I wonder if you have a case of "too much robot practice' or something like that - or may be it is indeed a very old habit that is hard to get rid of (I can relate).

Are you playing Lakeland this Saturday? Would be fun to see you there. I am playing on the table behind you in your clip from Orlando last November at the Florida closed, but pretty sure we haven't met.

Yes I should be there. I'll be over with the lowbies, but will look out for you when I come over to watch the good players.

I'm enjoying your blog as we seem to have some in common (except you started it at a much higher level than I). I'm particularly interested in the first part where you struggled reaching the ready position after a serve. I have the exact same problem - a screenshot of me when my opponent makes contact invariably shows me just leaving the service stance. Can I assume you figured out that issue? What helped the most?

Thanks for that, a ton of good stuff, I will work my way through it all.

I've thought a fair bit about trying LP, in fact it seems perfectly logical given my age/ability. What am I thinking trying to learn a two-winged attacking style at this age??

The thing is, I feel like a natural BH player, and my BH loop vs underspin is the only real weapon that wins me points. (I also have a few decades as a BH-focused racquetball player under my belt - not sure how that figures in). But I don't think I'd be gaining much with LP on the BH right now - it's already my best shot.

A while back I came to the following conclusion about "my style": I want to learn all of the basic strokes, footwork, and spins before I even think about what my style "should be". When I get to that point, maybe LP will make the most sense. But I'd rather not commit to something unorthodox before I even figure out what my strengths might be...

I finished 5 wins and 4 losses - but I was 1-4 against the young up-and-comers and 4-0 against the older guys. As much as I want to consider myself an up-and-comer the record indicates otherwise. After this tournament I decided I need to spend the rest of the year getting back to basics and keep the ball on the table with simple strokes.

Got to record 3 matches:

1. Played a young guy (his first tournament) who hit solid shots and kept the ball on the table. Needles to say that's more than enough to make short work of me - I never had a chance.

2. This guy played well but had his worst match of the day against me - lucky but I'll take it.

3. Played an older gent from my club - when I started last year he beat me easily but lately the tables have been turned - that's a good sign.

HOLY MOLY the 2018 US OPEN came to my town - what an experience I spent the entire week at the tournament - playing every event I could and watching the top players when not playing. It was a fantastic time I was completely immersed in the game like never before.

The only slight bummer - the tournament is clearly not targeted at novices like me - I got trounced all week long, very few of the matches were even remotely competitive. But I learned a ton - its clear what I have to work on (everything!) and I'm very motivated to learn and improve even more next year.

I recorded all my matches but it's taking time to edit them so I'll probably post a few at a time.

1. I enjoyed the matches vs the young kids - they are so impressive sometimes I get caught up watching their shots. This girl was fun to play and I felt I stuck with her a little bit. One thing I learned against these kids: you can trick them with spin but you definitely cannot surprise them with long/fast serves - their reflexes are unbelievable.(ps: the rally at 3:30 in this video was possibly my favorite of the tournament)

2. Another match vs a young girl - she was way better than I but I actually thought I had a chance to win. The match was 3-1 but I lost one game 20-18 and another 16-14, in both games I had multiple game points. So I was right there!

3. The most frustrating match of the tournament - an 80yr old guy playing a Long pips pushblocking style. I've never played an opponent like this before. And though I've read bunches in theory how to play long pips, I have precious little experience actually doing it. I need more reps against this style and I don't know how to get them.

If it looks like I am completely uncomfortable and off balance in this match, it's because I was.

If anyone has advice on winning this sort of match, I'd love to hear it. When I tried to be more aggressive, many of those shots came back and I made more mistakes than he. So then I tried to be more careful and less aggressive, but doing that I inevitably made the first mistake anyway. I'm not sure what strategy involves me not making the first mistake... except getting alot better.

3. The most frustrating match of the tournament - an 80yr old guy playing a Long pips pushblocking style. I've never played an opponent like this before. And though I've read bunches in theory how to play long pips, I have precious little experience actually doing it. I need more reps against this style and I don't know how to get them.

If it looks like I am completely uncomfortable and off balance in this match, it's because I was.

If anyone has advice on winning this sort of match, I'd love to hear it. When I tried to be more aggressive, many of those shots came back and I made more mistakes than he. So then I tried to be more careful and less aggressive, but doing that I inevitably made the first mistake anyway. I'm not sure what strategy involves me not making the first mistake... except getting alot better.

Your opponent didn't attack much at all, so you had opportunity play as safe (=high balls) as possible. Instead you played too hasty shots and sometimes too aggressive.

In theory the best approach is to play as carefully as you can and then (if you get good enough opportunity for a kill) punish with hard enough shot that won't get returned. You did lot of half speed attacks that got returned and you ended up in trouble after that. Also your use of spin worked often for the benefit of the opponent.

Long pips pushblocking is risky strategy by itself, because LP player tends to make mistake sooner or later. So if you develop consistency in your shots, just returning the pips shots will often be enough.

But as you noticed, it's possible that there is no working strategy, because the opponent is just too good player. Anyway, usually the worst strategy agaist passive pips player is to be too aggressive.

Just watched the LP blocker match. Lots if giod improvement in your game. You hit some amazing bhs, and your fh topspin was very consistent. You only missed one fh loop, and that was because you let the ball drop below table height.

But you only attempted 7 fh loops. You were six for seven. The shot that you did when you weren't ready to loop, where you kind of fh slice behind or under the ball and invariably pop up a sitter -- that is not a table tennis shot of any kind. You clearly are serious about reaching a higher level, so you need to completely erase that shot from your mental list of possibilities. It has no place in the game you want to play.

Part of the reason you attempted so few fhs is because you are completly setting yourself up deliberately to play bhs all over the table. Your grip, stance, and position relative to the table are completely set up for a bh. That is crippling your fh. I can see why you like your bh better because you hit some amazing ones. But for the future you will have to play in balanced position where you cover at least 50-60% of the table with your fh. And your fhs were good, there is no reason not to want to use the shot. But even if you miss your next 1000 fh loops in a row, if you ever want to play 1700+, which is easily attainable for you, you must be able to use your fh.

About the LP, there are a few things. Like all junk rubber players, people adopt equipment to compensate for something. With older Florida LP blockers like this one, it's movement. So play one ball to his fh to make him step over, then the next outside his bh. A weak shot he has to move for will be way more effective than a strong shot right into the pips.

Don't push a ball coming off his pips, unless he just blocked a spinny loop. Don't push vs his pips. I could say that twenty times without overstressing it. He wants you to pop up a ball he can smash.

Be patient. Unless you pop up a ball, he can't really attack. With the lp (most lp, not all) he can't make spin unless you give him some. So you can play pattycake dead balls to his pips for a while, until you get an easy attack.

As you said, you will not beat a defensive style on consistency. Don't try. You will have to win more points instead of getting a lot of freebies like you would vs another looper. This is a good discipline. Be patient, look for an opportunity, take it when it's there, make him move, and expect to have to make two or three shots to win the point.

_________________Table tennis, as we find it, is far too hard for us. It brings too much pain, too many disappointments, impossible tasks.

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